Holden runs from behind to win the Larry H. Miller Superbike Challenge GTO race. (Tooele, UT) Jake Holden came from behind on the Corona Honda CBR100RR to win the 14-lap inaugural Larry H. Miller Superbike Challenge GTO race by 8 seconds. Holden started on pole, but after a poor start was in forth behind Taylor Knapp, Robert Jensen and James Randolph. Knapp got a great start and was up for a battle, while David Anthony was charging from back in the pack. Holden passed Jensen on lap 4 with a great drive into “The Attitudes” riding bar-to-bar. Holden put his head down and set out for the leaders, passing both at the end of the long Miller straight going into turn 1 and quickly pulled a gap by 15 bike-lengths. On lap 8, Anthony passed Knapp into turn 1 to settle into second. Knapp slipped to fourth in lapped traffic with Jensen getting by on lap 11. From there it was a race to the flag. Holden demonstrated his skill and the power of his Corona Honda running a best lap of 1:51.2 on Miller’s Parameter Course, showcasing the talent of America’s privateer riders in front of the World Superbike teams. “I didn’t quite get a good start, but I stayed relaxed and put my head down. I love this track and the fans are great. Thanks to Corona for all their support.” Holden proceeded to please the crowd gathered in the paddock with a rocker-style shout into the microphone. David Anthony went from third on the grid to a strong second place finish. “I struggled to get by a couple of boys at the start, but by then Jake was gone.” Anthony ran a 1:52 flat on his Suzuki GSX-R1000. Robert Jensen rounded out the podium with a run from fifth on the grid to take third. “We struggled with the bike the first part of the weekend, but by today we had a bike I was happy with.” Jensen ran a best lap of 1:52.1 The Larry H. Miller Superbike Challenge was a very popular support event to the 2009 HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship and FIM World Supersport Championship. “It’s an honor for the USBA to serve as a support event for World Superbike weekend at Miller Motorsports Park,” said Lance Lee, president of the USBA. “This is an unbelievable opportunity for our teams and racers to showcase their talent in front of the best teams, riders and fans in the world.” For complete result, visit ~http://www.superbikechallenge.com/results/~ To learn more about the Honda Presents the Plaza Cycle Masters of the Mountains series, visit the USBA?s website at www.UtahSBA.com. Race Results 1. Jake Holden (Hon CBR1000RR) 2. David Anthony (Suz GSX-R1000) 3. Robert Jensen (Suz GSX-R1000) 4. Taylor Knapp (Suz GSX-R1000) 5. Russell Wikle (Suz GSX-R1000) 6. Cory West (Suz GSX-R1000) 7. Brad Hendry (Duc 1098R) 8. Shane Turpin (Suz GSX-R1000) 9. James Randolph (Suz GSX-R1000) 10. Chris Ulrich (Kaw ZX-10R) 11. Davie Stone (Hon CBR1000RR) 12. Brant Wiwi (Kaw ZX-10R) 13. Ricky Corey (Apr RSV1000R 14. Brian Parriott (Hon CBR1000RR) 15. Jimmy Wood (Kaw ZX-6R) 16. Elena Myers (Kaw ZX-6R) 17. Ryan Brand (Suz GSX-R1000) 18. Gary Poole (Yam YZF-R1) 19. Brad Puetz (Suz GSX-R1000) 20. Josh Galster (Kaw ZX-6R) More, from a press release issued by Penny Nicolai, on behalf of Melissa Paris: A WEEKEND OF HIGHS AND LOWS Tooele, Utah – The FIM Supersport Championship at Miller Motorsports Park, May 29-31, proved to be a weekend of both highs and lows for well-known rider Melissa Paris, the only female to ever qualify for a World Supersport event. “This was a huge challenge.” explains Paris. “The first practice session didn’t come along as well as I’d hoped, but my team was able to get my R6 working awesome by Saturday morning. We qualified without any problem and were ready to grid up. Our Markbilt Yamaha R-6 was right on and our entire team definitely had high hopes for the race.” Powering off the starting grid, Paris, who hails from Oceanside, Calif., got a great start ahead of other wild card riders and even a few series regulars. “My hope was to tag on with some of the guys that had qualified just ahead of me. I knew if I got away on the start with them, I could try to latch on and see what I could learn. Unfortunately in turn five on the first lap I got tangled with another rider and nearly crashed. By the time I recovered there was already a small gap to the next rider,” she continued, “At that point my only option was to put my head down and try to chase down the guys in front of me. Unfortunately that was not to be. On lap six we had an engine problem and our day ended. “It was definitely the best and then it was the worst,” exclaimed Paris, with obvious disappointment. “To be able to compete with the greatest Supersport riders in the world was incredible and an unbelievable honor. It is something I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Unfortunately, we had an engine problem which could not be foreseen. It was definitely disappointing, because I knew I was capable of improving on my qualifying position, but I know it is all part of racing and things don’t always go the way we would like. I learned an enormous amount and that will certainly hold me in good stead for the rest of the season.” More, from a press release issued by Mist Suzuki Racing: MIST Suzuki survived their first visit to the Thruxton circuit thinking only of what might have been after overcoming numerous hurdles as their season struggles to get going. With just three days between Donington and Thruxton there was no time to do anything other than basic maintenance with the bikes. Practice showed small improvements in lap times until we made significant set-up changes overnight only to have an electrical problem that effectively stalled the bike on the fastest section of the track. Quick reactions saved the day and after a massive moment Matt ran on in to the deep grass on the outside of the track as he struggled to regain control of the machine. In fact it went so far off the beaten path that Matt had to miss the remainder of the session before the bike could be recovered. Team Manager Mike Edwards said “Matt was very lucky, to have the bike effectively stall and lock up at over 120 mph was pretty scary. A couple of marshals commented that he was white and shaking when they sat him down soon after the incident so we were please he recovered quickly enough to get out for the next session”. Still struggling with rear end grip around the faster sections of the track the team opted to try a softer tyre during the qualifying session but to no avail, leaving Matt in 27th position on the grid. With more suspension changes to improve grip for the first race Matt made up a few places after a good start but began to struggle with front end grip after a few laps, something that had been pretty good in similar conditions the day before. As the race went on Matt was able to change his riding style to limit the damage but soon fell back to finish 24th. Not the placing the team had hoped for but still good enough for 7th position in the SuperBike Cup. Team Manager Mike Edwards commented “When top teams like Airwaves Yamaha struggle with grip and have to make ‘some adjustments to the electronics’ you know things were hard, especially when our bike is of a much lower spec. weighing up to 20 kg more than theirs and with no fancy electronics to speak of”. After checking with Pirelli and Ohlins the team changed the suspension for the second race to give more front end grip only for a minor throttle problem delaying things forcing Matt to start the warm up lap from the pit lane. Despite another good start for the race Matt was soon struggling again with more front end grip problems. Unable to maintain his early pace Matt still managed to finish in 21st place and 6th in the Cup. Matt was philosophical after the race, “We did our best at a circuit that was new for us but things were stacked against us. We managed to confirm that the tyres for race day were from a different batch from the rest of the weekend and they certainly felt different from the ones we practiced on. On the positive side we are now 7th in the Cup championship, and just 1 point behind 6th place, despite only having raced in half the rounds to date.” The team is hopeful that both the data logging and the lightweight wheels will arrive in time for Snetterton and are keen to make a good showing to encourage new sponsorship to help pay for valuable testing and to bring the bike up to a higher specification, including a weight loss programme, to reduce the deficit against the other bikes on the grid. More, from a press release issued by Corona Extra Racing Honda: JAKE HOLDEN TAKES TOP SPOT AT MILLER WORLD SUPERBIKE GTO EVENT Jake Holden returned to his winning ways at the World Superbike support event held at Miller Motorsports Park this weekend. Riding his Corona Extra Honda CBR1000RR Superbike in front of what looked like a record crowd, Jake finished with an eight second cushion at the checkered flag in the Larry H. Miller GTO event. The weekend started well as Jake quickly got accustomed to a new bike spec that the team had put together to address the altitude and often high desert temperatures. At the end of qualifying Jake was in pole position with a time that was better than a number of the World Superbike riders. Considering the spec of his bike was fully AMA Superbike legal without the benefits of special engines parts, fuel and suspension as allowed in World SuperBike everyone was very happy. Jake said: “I had a really good qualifying lap going and got blocked so went on do one more and they put the checkers out early! I know that there was at least another half second to go!” That half second would have put him well in the WSB mix! On race day the crowd, enjoying beautiful weather, saw Jake make one of his less-than-stellar starts and into fourth at the first turn. Riding against a number of his regular AMA opponents Jake stalked the three ahead for a few laps as they all broke away from the rest of the field. Setting them all up and with some bold moves he was able to pass all three on one lap. Thereafter he put his head down and slowly drew away crossing the line eight seconds ahead of second place, David Anthony. At the podium a delighted Holden thanked Miller Motorsports Park for putting on the race and all the fans for coming out to watch. He credited his crew for putting together a great bike; “We had a little bit of sorting to do as we did not get much track time but the guys got it working great and I just held on!” he joked.